


Ramifications

by Narkito



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: 5x24, 5x25, Coda, Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-29 23:43:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3915106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narkito/pseuds/Narkito
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve and Danny, a couple of days after Kono's wedding, talking about their particular situations and how to deal with them.  Centred around the Danny/Rachel finale plot. </p><p>It's vague, I know, sorry, but I don't want to spoil anyone who may not have seen the season finale yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ramifications

**Author's Note:**

> SPOILERS AHEAD!

“So, how are things on the Catherine front?”

Steve shifts on the couch, taking a long pull of his beer. He’s not comfortable talking about this yet.

“Stop squirming and just give me a sign here, buddy. Do we hate her? Do we love her? Are we contemplating a relationship, maybe?”

Danny turns to watch Steve squirm some more, but stays quiet, where he goes and spills most of his feelings in long winded rants; Steve goes inwards and has to mull things over before he can put it into words.

“I don’t know.” Is his final answer, but he can tell, by just looking at his rigid posture, it’s not easy. Once the initial shock and –dare he say it- contentment had worn off, Steve’s been weary and quiet for the most part. At least, Danny thinks, this one particular brand of heartache won’t translate into disregard for police procedure and senseless violence, hell, that’s what he hopes for anyway. 

“Yeah,” replies Danny, trying to remain partial, but he too, after he initial shock had worn off, has started to see the underlying issues with the situation. He likes Cath, he likes her a lot, but coming back after almost a year of radio silence hoping to pick up where she and Steve left off seems more like a step back than moving forward. Steve is not the same man as he was when Catherine left, he has grown, he’s matured, and Cath missed it; she missed the part of Steve that has been going to work on his emotions, on his perceptions of what constitutes a family, of love. There’s no straight forward answer for this one. 

“And how are you, Danny, I mean, I know you’re still pissed with Rachel, but what’s going to happen with that?”

It’s Danny turn to squirm, although for entirely different reasons, he’s got a clear hold of his emotions, he’s angry, disappointed and feels cheated, but he has to contain it all in for the sake of his kids, plural now. Shit, he even attended his own son birth without knowing, but Rachel knew? The whole time? How is that even— _damn!_ His heart goes out for Stan, who just got cheated out of having a son, and how the hell are they going to navigate that? Huh? 

He must have stayed silent for too long, because Steve settles his beer on the coffee table and turns sideways to face Danny, putting his most soothing face on. 

“Are you going to sue?” 

There’s also that to consider, isn’t there? Change of surnames, more alimony, perhaps? If he sues, are the custody rights going to change drastically? He loves his daughter, and he’s falling quickly in love with his son too, his heart's building new rooms to hold all these new emotions.

Danny bites his lip and halts in the middle of putting the beer on the table.

“Fuck, I don’t know.”

Danny’s cellphone starts ringing just as Steve says, “don’t worry, partner, we’ll figure it out.”

Danny answers without even checking the caller ID, there’s only a handful of people that would call him past 11 at night, and he has a strong feeling it’s going to be his mom, who has like a sixth sense when it comes for her children’s emotional turmoil. 

“Hello?”

“Danno, can you come pick me up?” Danny’s heart skips a beat and he sits up straighter on the couch, ready for anything.

“Hey, monkey, aren’t you supposed to be in bed? Where are you?”

Steve also sits up and sobers immediately, standing by for Danny’s word. 

“I know, don’t be mad, but, can you come pick me up?” She sounds like she’s been crying. 

“What’s going on, Grace? Where are you?”

“I’m in my room, but I don’t want to be here, can you come?”

Danny releases some tension after that, yet, “why? What’s wrong? Where’s your mom?”

“She’s downstairs, fighting with Stan.”

 _Damn._ Danny lifts his eyes and sees Steve at the edge of the couch, and intense worried look directed at him, so he mouths “ _she’s fine_ ”. Steve doesn’t buck a millimeter, still pouring concern out of every pore. 

Danny, places a hand on Steve’s shoulder before he continues. “Why do you want me to pick you up? Did something happen?”

There’s a heavy pause, and Danny can almost sense what’s coming.

“Danno, is it true?”

 _Ah, she knows._ He was hoping he could delay this conversation for at least a week, until the whole surgical procedure was arranged and his anger had subdued some more. 

He inhales deeply, “yeah, monkey, it’s true.”

Grace starts sobbing on the other side of the line and Danny’s heart breaks for his little girl, how could Rachel be so impulsive? How could she not think about the ramifications of her actions? How did this happen? _How, goddammit, how?_

“Hey, sweetheart, are you there? Are you listening?”

“Yeah,” Grace sobs out in reply.

“Listen, I know you’re angry right now, and I know- I know it’s hard to umm, understand why your mom did what she did, alright? But—listen your mom had her reasons, yeah?” His own voice has started to falter and break, and if he doesn’t reign in his emotions, he’s going to start sobbing right alongside Grace any minute now. “She had her reasons and she though they were good reasons at the time. She was afraid, and when people are afraid, they—we. We do crazy things. Right, monkey? Like running away from a tiny spider, even though we know the spider can’t hurt us?”

“But she hurt you!” Her voice rises to a shout, and it’s so unlike her. Danny breathes in a shuddering sigh, that has Steve looking at him like he’s about to hug him, but Danny can’t deal with that, he needs to stay strong, if he touches him right now, the dam he’s trying to build around this subject is going to crumble and the torrent will burst him at the seams. He stands up and starts pacing the length of his living room.

“I know, honey, but let _me_ worry about that. It’s not your job to protect me, alright? You don’t have to be mad at your mom.”

Grace starts sobbing harder and after a gut-wrenching cry she asks Danny to come pick her up, again, and again. He’s losing what little control he has o the situation and he’s losing it fast. 

“Oh, shit,” says Danny on the phone, not the first time Grace has heard him swear, though. “Alright, alright, let me talk with Rachel, we’ll sort it out. Listen, Steve’s here, I’m going to put him on the line for you and I’ll call Rachel from a different phone, alright, monkey? I’m not making any promises, though, you understand that?” 

“Yes.” Is Grace’s reply, barely above a whisper.

Steve gets handed the phone and he gives his own in return.

“Gracie? Are you there? It’s Steve.”

Steve can tell that Grace is trying hard to control her sobbing, but can’t. He’s lost as to what to do, so he goes with the first thing that pops into his head.

“Hey, Gracie, how about I just stay with you on the phone until your dad’s back? Maybe I could just talk?” She hums in response. “Okay, that’s the spirit. Did I ever tell you about the time I caught your dad eating my candy stash? I don’t think I did, right? Okay, so, this was maybe three years ago, when he was between apartments, I think it was right after the one that gold mold on it, remember? Anyway, he was staying at my house for a few weeks, and as you must know, your dad takes his sweet time to fall asleep….”

Danny looks fondly at Steve, ever so grateful to have him in his life –both Gracie’s and his, actually— and pretty soon, as soon as possible really, into Charlie’s life. He dials the phone for a second time, if Rachel and Stan are really fighting it out, this might take a while. 

Steve’s already making wild exaggerations about how much candy Danny can stuff in his mouth in one sitting when Rachel picks up.

“Steve, I can’t talk righ—“

“Listen, okay, just listen, I’ve got—“

“Danny? Did something—?”

“Just listen, Rache, I have Grace on the phone bawling her eyes out, saying she wants me to come pick her up, so pull your—your act together and quit fighting with Stan and go talk with her, alright? She knows, Rachel, she _knows_ , and—I don’t know what to do, okay? She’s crying, she’s really hurt and she doesn’t understand, so just…. I know I’m not supposed to, I know I can’t just sweep in and— okay, and I’m trying, I’m trying really hard not to let the part of me that wants to yell at you for an entire week win, but I don’t know how to do this, if you hurt me I can live with that, but not—please talk with her, will you?”

There’s silence on the other side, some shuffling on the room, a closing door.

“Rachel, are you there? Did you even hear what I just said?”

“Danny, yes, sorry, I had to—listen, if she wants you to come, and you can, then it’s fine. I think it’s best if she goes with you for a couple of days. Stan and I, we…. Come and get her, Daniel, I’ll go talk with her, but yes, please come.” 

“Rachel, I don’t think—I mean, I want to, but….” He trails off.

“Danny, I know, it’s not ideal, but I know you’re great dad, I know you’re not calling so you can have Grace all for you and drag me through the mud in front of her, I know.”

“Yeah, I don’t want that.” Danny’s response comes out somewhat strained, betrayed by his own emotions, but she’s right, he doesn’t want that, he wants kids that can trust their parents and that means putting up a united front, that means taking care of preserving Rachel’s image as a parent even when he doesn’t feel particularly motivated to unite with his ex-wife right about now. 

“Danny, give me an hour and I’ll call you, if she still wants to go with you right now, it’s okay by me, if not, I’ll drop her off or you can come pick her up tomorrow first thing in the morning. She needs to decompress, she needs to sort out her feelings and I need to talk with Stan, so… you understand that, right?”

“Yes, I do. One hour. I’ll be expecting your call.”

“Good bye, Danny.”

“Yeah, bye.”

He hangs up and looks at Steve, who’s sprawling on his couch, head on the armrest, phone in hand tucked snug to his ear, other hand rubbing at his forehead. He’s not talking much, just humming and nodding at irregular intervals. Danny walks to Steve and gently places a hand on his arm as he sits on the coffee table.

“Gracie, here’s your dad. I love you, girl, hang in there for a bit, it will get better soon, I promise.” A soft, warm, fuzzy feeling pools in Danny’s stomach when he hears those words.

“I love you too, Uncle Steve.” 

Steve hands Danny the phone and as soon as he takes it, Steve covers his face with both hands and stretches his body far beyond the expanse of the couch.

“Hey, monkey. How you feel?”

“Alright, I guess.”

“Yeah, I know.” He feels pretty much the same way. “I talked with your mom; she’s going to talk with you in a little bit. Listen, baby, I know it’s hard, but I need you to cut some slack to your mom, okay, she really does feel awful about this whole thing, and neither she nor I went about in the best way, okay? So talk with her, hear what she has to say, and then you decide how mad you want to be, or if at all.”

Grace is about to answer, when the door to her room opens, Danny can hear this on the background, and Rachel’s voice comes through barely understandable. 

“Monkey, you there?”

“Yes, Danno.”

“Okay, Danno loves you, don’t you go forget about that.”

“I love you too, Danno.”

“Good, now talk with your mom, I’ll see you soon.”

Grace ends the call from her side and Danny can feel the strength seep out of him at once. Steve’s no better, still sprawled on the couch, looking mildly out of sorts and tired. 

They both stay silent and still for a minute, Steve staring upwards to the ceiling and Danny doing pretty much the same with the wall, until Danny realizes he’s still holding Steve’s phone and puts it on the table with a thud. The action gets Steve going as well.

“You think she’s going to be okay?” Asks Steve.

“Yeah. Yeah, Grace’s tough, I mean, I may still have to fork out thousands of dollars for therapy in the near future, but I think she’s going to be fine.”

“Yeah, like you said, she’s a tough kid.” Steve straightens on the couch, sits straighter and twists his back until something cracks, hissing in response. “I’ll get the coffee going.”

“Yeah. No—wait, are you alright? This was some intense night right here, babe, and you managed like a pro. You even used a few two-syllable words, I was impressed.” 

Steve chuckles weakly.

“Well, anything for Gracie, right? But I’m all talked out, Danno, I just want to recharge.”

Danny smiles wide and open, fondness pretty clear on his face. “Then lead the way,” he says as Steve smiles back at him, with much of the same affection displayed on his face, because even through all the anger, through his darkest days, Steve will always have his back, even if it means quickly tackling his aversion to put emotions into words for Grace, and that, right there, is the reason Danny thinks things will eventually get to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> It's not very polished, so if you happen to find a mistake, by all means point it out to me. Thank you for reading.


End file.
